Rotary connector devices are configured by assembling a stationary body fixed to a steering column and a rotating body that rotates in accordance with the steering of a steering wheel relatively rotatable each other, with a flat cable housed in an annular housing space formed therein.
In rotary connector devices having such a configuration, when foreign matter such as dirt or dust enters the housing space, as the rotating body rotates relative to the fixed body, there is a possibility that the flat cable housed in the housing space may be damaged, or that abnormal noises may be generated.
As one countermeasure, for example, in the rotary connector device described in Patent Document 1, an outer peripheral cylindrical portion of the stationary body has a two-layer structure having a slight gap in the radial direction, and foreign matter that enters from the outside can be guided to the gap in the outer peripheral cylindrical portion of the two-layer structure, such that foreign matter can allegedly be prevented from entering into the housing space through the opposing portion between the stationary body and the rotating body.
In addition, as exemplified, in Patent Document 1, in the rotary connector device, in addition to an opposing portion in which an outer peripheral edge of a stationary side ring plate and a lower end of an outer peripheral cylindrical portion of the fixed body are opposed to each other in the axial direction, by providing a portion extending downward on the radial outer side of the lower end portion of the outer peripheral cylindrical portion and assembling such that the outer peripheral edge and the extending portion overlap in the radial direction, foreign matter is suppressed from entering from the opposing portion between the stationary side ring plate and the outer peripheral cylindrical portion along the radial direction.
However, in the rotary connector device, even in a configuration in which the outer peripheral edge of the stationary side ring plate and the lower end portion of the outer peripheral cylindrical portion overlap in the radial direction as described above, it is still necessary to cut out the lower end portion of the outer peripheral cylindrical portion that corresponds to the locking unit for maintaining the assembled state of the stationary side ring plate and the outer peripheral cylindrical portion.
In the portion corresponding to the cut-out portion; that is, in the portion corresponding to the locking unit, as the stationary side ring plate and the outer peripheral cylindrical portion do not overlap in the radial direction, but oppose each other only in the axial direction, there is a possibility that entry of foreign matter cannot be suppressed.